ABOUT THE BLOGGER

It was a dark and stormy night. Suddenly a cry rang out, and on a hot summer night in 1954, Josephine, wife of Carl Bruce, gave birth to a boy—me. Unfortunately, this young married couple allowed Reuben Saturday, Josephine’s brother, to name their first-born. Reuben, aka “The Joker,” decided that Bruce was a nice name, so he decided to name me Bruce Bruce. I have gone by my middle name—David—ever since.

Being named Bruce David Bruce hasn’t been all bad. Bank tellers remember me very quickly, so I don’t often have to show an ID. It can be fun in charades, also. When I was a counselor as a teenager at Camp Echoing Hills in Warsaw, Ohio, a fellow counselor gave the signs for “sounds like” and “two words,” then she pointed to a bruise on her leg twice. Bruise Bruise? Oh yeah, Bruce Bruce is the answer!

Uncle Reuben, by the way, gave me a haircut when I was in kindergarten. He cut my hair short and shaved a small bald spot on the back of my head. My mother wouldn’t let me go to school until the bald spot grew out again.

Of all my brothers and sisters (six in all), I am the only transplant to Athens, Ohio. I was born in Newark, Ohio, and have lived all around Southeastern Ohio. However, I moved to Athens to go to Ohio University and have never left.

At Ohio U, I never could make up my mind whether to major in English or Philosophy, so I got a bachelor’s degree with a double major in both areas, then I added a master’s degree in English and a master’s degree in Philosophy.

Currently, and for a long time to come (I eat fruits and vegetables), I am spending my retirement writing books such as Nadia Comaneci: Perfect 10, The Funniest People in Dance, Homer’s Iliad: A Retelling in Prose, and William Shakespeare’s Macbeth: A Retelling in Prose.

If all goes well, I will publish one or two books a year for the rest of my life. (On the other hand, a good way to make God laugh is to tell Her your plans.)

If anyone has a problem with a reposting or my use of a photograph, please leave a comment and tell me about it.

I assume these things:

• Cosplayers want to be seen, especially those who allow their photos to be downloaded.

• Everyone wants Good Samaritans to get credit for their good deeds, and a blog post about a Good Samaritan is a good way to do that.

• People who post images on Imgur want to share them with the world.

• Credit must be given where credit is due. (I definitely try to do this. It is possible, however, that although I proofread, I may make a mistake and write “photo” instead of “photos.”)

Some things are fair use, of course. For example, a web search engine may use thumbnails of paragraphs or other images. See

What is and is not fair use is often a grey area instead of black and white.

Photographs do add information to a story; for example, they add information about skin color. Readers can’t tell the skin color of a person from the person’s name, and it is not always obvious what a person’s ethnicity or background is. Black people from England get tired of being called African-Americans.

However, ethics and courtesy are important. If a photographer wants a photograph taken off this blog, that certainly counts for a lot. I would take the photograph off this blog.

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include —

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;

(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and

(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.

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10 Responses to ABOUT THE BLOGGER

Hello- I am Tex Avery’s daughter, Nancy. it is legal for anyone to write an article but they need to have their facts correct. Tex Avery was hired at Warner Bros to head the unit over Chuck Jones and Bob Clampett. He always went to the gag meetings but was a supervisor first. I do not care for the penny pay off bet with Leon. My father made big money and I dispute that he used pennies. You need to re-write that article!

Fantastic blog! Thank you. I would like to suggest two topics; I’m hoping you’ll be interested enough to share your thoughts:
1.) What would Dante think of Ch 8 (Inner Demons) and Ch 9 (Better Angels) of Steven Pinker’s book The Better Angels of Our Nature
2.) A post covering Arthur Koestler’s book The Act of Creation. More specifically, the idea of bisociation and reframing used in story, humor, and new ideas.

Thank you. To be honest, you are better read than I am. I have not read the two books you mentioned. Because I am currently involved in a multi-year project of retelling Shakespeare’s plays in modern English, I am unlikely to read those two books for at least a year.

Thanks for the discussion guides! Especially the Dante ones. Though I sometimes disagree with your interpretation, they have been incredibly useful to save time and jump start my lesson planning as I teach 10th grade humanities at a Catholic Classical school in Florida. Many, many, many thanks!

Loved this! Great about stmt. Loved the part on fair use and the line – “(On the other hand, a good way to make God laugh is to tell Her your plans.)” I do love someone who can make me laugh! Well done!!!!